May 02, 2009

Beginning a Customer Service Odyssey

Today, I took my brand new Olympus Tough Stylus 6000 (ok, it's a week old) on a mountain bike ride and, during the ride, I stopped to take a picture. With the leash around my wrist, the camera
slipped five inches onto the top tube of my bike and cracked the LCD.
I was really surprised. I ride with cameras a lot and they always seem to get knocked around. I've never broken anything before.

The big reason I bought this camera was because of its name. I figured if you put the word "Tough" in the name of your camera it's going to be tougher than the average. The front of the camera doubles the promise by saying "1.5m/5ft Shockproof."

Naming is such an important part of branding. It holds a promise that binds the customer with the brand.

Tonight, I sent a note to Olympus to see what kinds of solutions they have to fix my camera. It will be interesting to see how they respond. Not only is naming important for brands but, today, customer service is critical. Social media is forcing companies to no longer look at customer service as appeasement. They must be proactive. Bad experiences move quickly across social networks, threatening a companies reputation in the blink of an eye.

Now that the conversation has started with Olympus, I'll let you know how it goes.

Comments

John, I saw this post and I am more than happy to connect you with customer service. They're good about helping either repair or replace you camera if it's under warranty. Call 888-553-4448 or email to Distec@Olympus.com. Thanks.

What I've never understood is how a wendidg planner (not you, because even though I don't know you I LOVE this post!) can complain about how no one wants to pay their rates, but then insist they don't need to hire a professional service provider that charges more than $xxx.If I had a nickel for every bride that told me she only budgeted $500 for entertainment because that's what the wendidg planner told them to even though they LOVE us and what we bring to their event (starting at 3 times that price) I'd be a very rich man.Top professionals should seek out other professionals of the same caliber. I've had to resort to referring my clients to a wendidg planner that's 350 miles away and that, is a shame. Particularly when I have brides changing their dates to hire us, verifying that we're available before they nail down the date at the venue, and the like.

Thank you for any other great post. The place else could anybody get that sort of information in this kind of ideal strategy of writing? I have a demo next week, and I am on the design for such info.
Isabella